An early idea of how the Warriors’ Mission Bay arena site will look

While roads were gridlocked with drivers trying to reach Paul McCartney’s farewell to Candlestick Park, Mission Bay residents had their first glimpse of what could become the city’s next sporting venue — an arena for the Golden State Warriors.

Or at least a glimpse of how things might take shape on the ground — an 18,000 seat oval tucked inside a block near the bay, with an entry plaza framed by two office buildings.

The presentation was made by the Warriors’ design team to the Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee. There were no architectural renderings; instead, architect Craig Dykers of Snøhetta walked through slides showing how the arena might turn a 12-acre rectangle last envisioned as a corporate headquarters into a “community focal point.”

The main pedestrian entrance would be at Third Street, next to a Muni light rail stop and across from the UCSFMissionBay campus. There’d be a 160-foot office building at each corner, with shops and restaurants along a plaza that leads in from Third Street and spills around the arena structure, creating an open space comparable to the center of today’s Union Square.

The conceptual design should be released in the next month or two, along with the first environmental documents. But this being San Francisco, Thursday’s slideshow put the really important information on the table right at the start: There will be three outdoor bicycle parking areas, along with a bike valet service inside the arena.

— John King

John King is the San Francisco Chronicle’s urban design critic. E-mail: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron